The Fed begins stepping on the brakes
The Federal Reserve is finally hitting the brakes on its monthly asset purchases that supported the economy throughout the pandemic.
Posted — UpdatedThe central bank announced Wednesday that it will reduce the pace of monthly bond buying by $10 billion for Treasury Securities and $5 billion for agency mortgage-back securities.
That means the Fed will still buy at least $70 billion Treasury securities and at least $35 billion mortgage-backed securities every month this month. Starting December, these amounts will fall to at least $60 billion and at least $30 billion, respectively. This is what's known as tapering and was expected by investors and analysts.
The Fed is hardly ripping off the stimulus Band-Aid: It will maintain its target interest rates near zero. Yet it plans to make similar reductions in the pace of its asset purchases each month in the future. Still, it said it's ready to slow the pace or reverse its tapering if the economic outlook changes.
This is a developing story. It will be updated
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2024 by Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
